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5 Stellar Brand Press Kits that Boost Media Exposure

Friday, March 28, 2014 - 14:03

Lately I’ve been looking into a few tech startups that have created effective press kits. A robust kit can help you increase exposure by delivering a clear, engaging message to different audiences, at different points in time.

You can create a press kit, for example, to introduce your brand in light of your recent launch. These kits are carefully designed to provide complete information about your product/service, its features, target market, milestones, contact details, among others. A well-developed press kit can make or break your brand in reporters’ eyes. And, in a world where media channels have become the fourth power, you don’t want to be the brand that breaks.

What makes it stellar: Mailchimp’s carefully crafted brand guidelines show just how much they care about their visual identity and the way it’s portrayed in the media (and you should care about yours too!).

Brand assets: screenshots and logos for press and promotional purposes

A contact email for media inquiries

Interesting: Instagram chooses to display a video about their newest feature (Instagram Direct, as of March 2014) before anything else on this press page. This reads as “this is what you should be writing about”, which is quite effective to guide coverage.

What makes it stellar: Their corporate timeline gives reporters some background about where the brand came from and an idea of where it plans on going next. It helps them contextualize their articles in light of Instagram’s brand story.

4. Tumblr

Tumblr.com/press features a comprehensive set of resources that can help reporters find the information they need to produce an article. Some of their press site’s components:

A series of logos and screenshots that reporters can download

Recent praise from the press

Sidebar access to an “About” section with their key stats, brand promise (“Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything”), and the latest posts from their corporate blog.

Sidebar access to a “Logo” section where anyone (with or without design knowledge) can test out which file they will need and download it. This section also includes brand guidelines, introduced as “Do’s and Don’ts”

What makes it stellar: Going beyond a simple news feed, Tumblr decided to highlight quotes from different sources that show human perspectives about their service. This adds to their brand’s credibility and gives reporters the confidence that they are joining (with their praise, hopefully) a respected group of media leaders.

5. Pinterest

Pinterest’s press kit includes a series of valuable resources that help build a close relationship with reporters. Key information about the company and shortcuts are featured above the site’s fold. Some additional components include:

Media and downloads: logo and product image files. This section also includes brand videos.

Company photos: founder headshots and photos of their workspace

Videos from recent talks that the founders have participated in

Short bios for both founders.

What makes it stellar: Pinterest is not leaving anything to chance. Their call to action is clear, personal and invites anyone to write a story about them. Unlike other brands, which seem hard to access and somewhat private about their press relations, Pinterest goes all out with a red button that anyone, anywhere can click to feature their brand story.